City Candidates Attend Final Forum

The fate of a controversial liquor ordinance and ways to make the city more attractive to business investment were two of the top issues discussed by City Council candidates Wednesday night at the final public forum before the March 4 election.

About 50 residents attended the forum, which featured five of the six candidates running for two open council seats and both candidates for the city treasurer position. Council candidate Virginia Mendoza did not attend.

The candidates for council were unanimous in agreeing that improving San Fernando’s image in the business community was crucial to the city’s economic future. They disagreed, however, on how that objective might best be accomplished.

Candidate Jose Hernandez, a Cal State Northridge Chicano studies professor, said the city should take advantage of its rich history by staging cultural events that would attract favorable attention.

Businessman Donald Mauran said the city should clean up neighborhoods blighted by abandoned buildings and tout the “exceptional quality” of the city’s small Police Department.

Bank officer Silverio Robledo, at 33 the youngest candidate, said San Fernando, with half its residents under 24, could ensure its economic vitality by tapping into the potential of its youth.

Two of the five candidates, Juana Mojica and social worker Robert Villafana, said the council should continue to support a 1993 ordinance preventing new liquor outlets from opening in the city.

“Alcohol is a drug and it’s killing the children in this community,” said Mojica, program director for San Fernando Valley Partnership. “This is a city of 2.2 square miles and we have 55 liquor licenses already. We don’t need any more.”

The other candidates, however, said the ordinance needs to be reconsidered. They favored continuing the ban on new bars and liquor stores, but argued it was not in the city’s interest to impede the establishment of “family style restaurants” serving beer and wine only.

In response to a question posed by an audience member, all of the candidates were emphatic in declaring that San Fernando should not consider joining the Valley should it secede from Los Angeles.